Anthony Mancilla claims second Chicago Golden Gloves title

Anthony Mancilla found himself in the position to fight for a Chicago Golden Gloves title for the third year in a row Friday. In 2023, his opponent failed to show up for the fight, giving Mancilla his first Golden Gloves championship in the 132-pound novice division. In 2024, he finished second in a move up to the open division.

But on Friday the 2021 Bradley-Bourbonnais graduate, fighting again in the 132-pound open division, was able to pick up his first win in a championship bout to claim his second Golden Gloves title as a representative of Gold Star Gym in Bradley.

“It feels good. It feels like a dream come true,” Mancilla said. “A lot of hard work was put into the win.”

He has gained lots of valuable experience over the past several years at one of the most prestigious amateur boxing tournaments in the nation. He said reaching the final round three years in a row provided him with enough familiarity with the tournament that he can just go focus on doing whatever he could to win.

“The first year I didn’t know anything coming into the tournament,” he said. “I was just trying to do the best I could. Now, coming into the third straight year being in the finals, I had a lot more confidence. My main priority was to just get the job done this year.”

Jesus Martinez took over as head coach at Gold Star Gym in 2021. Mancilla’s title Friday was the fifth for a Gold Star boxer in Martinez’s tenure, with Owen Whittington’s 2023 title and Nicholas Tavoletti’s and Gregory Murhpy’s titles in 2024 joining Mancilla’s two wins. Gold Star Gym now can claim 20 Golden Gloves winners overall.

Martinez said that it always is nice to see boxers develop and improve throughout their time in the gym, with the accolades being an added bonus.

“It’s good to see the transition they go through and watching all the hard work pay off,” Martinez said. “The transition from being scared to the confidence that they get, and win or lose, seeing the transition of becoming more of a man, more of a hard-working person inside and outside the ring.”

Martinez’s relationship with Mancilla goes back since well before he took over as head coach at Gold Star. All of the years of hard work he has seen Mancilla put in over the years made Friday’s win all the more special.

“I’ve known Anthony since he was 14 years old,” Martinez said. “We’ve gone to many shows, he’s got over 40 fights now. I’ve seen him definitely mature. I’ve seen the immature side of him as well, and what made this last fight so much better is we’ve gone through so many trials and tribulations. To see him finally get the job done after getting so close last year, he’s just worked so hard this last year.”

Having Hernandez in his corner is something Mancilla said he has been important to his development.

“We grew up with each other in a sense,” Mancilla said. “I’ve seen him train, and he’s seen me start out. He’s seen me when I knew nothing, and now I’m the best in Chicago, so it means a lot.”

Up next for Mancilla is a trip to Golden Gloves of America National Championships in Tulsa. The championships will be held at the Arvest Convention Center in downtown Tulsa from May 12-17.

A strong performance at nationals is foremost on Mancilla’s mind as he moves forward with his boxing career.

“With the win comes going to nationals, so I’m going to go win nationals,” he said. “From here I’m going to go pro in the future, but for now we’re just taking it fight by fight. We’ve got the nationals coming up next month, representing Illinois, and like I said, just take it fight by fight, stay in the gym and work hard.”